CPP, Card Protection Plan, closing

[mc2fool]

I've had a card protection plan with CPP for many yonks (decades actually) and just got a letter saying they're closing down that business and it won't renew. On a google it seems that was decided a couple of years back and they're just running it down by not renewing policies (which are 3 year ones) as they reach their end.

The main attraction for me was the ability to have all my cards cancelled and reissued in a single phone call, should they have gotten stolen/lost/destroyed, along with some of the other assistance benefits (which have shrunk over the years).

I must admit I've ummed and ahhed about whether it was worth having (at £23.33pa) for many years, but on a combination of that feeling that it always rains the day you forget to carry your brolly (or more appropriately, something bad happening the day after the insurance you didn't renew lapses) and sheer lethargy at looking into alternatives (including reading the fine print for the home insurance to see how much overlap there was) I've just let it renew each time (it's on a direct debit).

So, now I'm going to have to think about it. Anyone else in the same boat re CPP? And if so, what were your choices?

And in general, CPP or not, do you folks use such products, if so from who, or just not bother about such things?

[kempiejon]

That's a blast from the past. I had CPP back in the 90s, I think it came as a freebie with a credit card. One also got a metal tag to put on the keyring and if posted would get lost keys returned. One call to cancel all the cards and emergency cash advances if stranded with a lost wallet was an attraction as I was holding a few cards. I don't remember having it for long so I expect if I was asked to pay for it I would have declined, presumably my membership lapsed when it was no longer a perk. I've never bothered with a similar service since.

[pochisoldi]

Lost my driver's licence over 25 years ago when I was on the continent, tried to get CPP to get the forms sent out to me - useless. Never renewed again on the basis that they wouldn't do anything that I couldn't do myself in half the time.

[MDW1954]

I had a CPP plan in the 80s/90s. It seemed like a good idea at the time, as I was doing a lot of business travel, both in the UK and abroad.

I have a vague memory of it being tied in with an HSBC product, but that might be wrong.

Years later (2005-ish) I received a letter saying that I had been "mis-sold" the product, and inviting me to claim for compensation. I never figured out how it had been mis-sold, as I couldn't recall the full details. I duly cancelled the plan, and received a small cheque. I did look at buying the policy again, on open market terms, but was told that CPP wouldn't deal with me, as I'd claimed.

MDW1954

[GeoffF100]

I never figured out how it had been mis-sold, as I couldn't recall the full details.

The issue was that they offered insurance against losses that the card supplier had to reimburse anyway.

[MDW1954]

I never figured out how it had been mis-sold, as I couldn't recall the full details.

The issue was that they offered insurance against losses that the card supplier had to reimburse anyway.

Ah! That makes sense.

MDW1954